Colin's chair was very cozy. His filthy feet were on the table, next to dozens of books that contained something related to magic.
It was almost the middle of the night.
The light of a few candles made his reading clear in that dark room.
After a sigh, Colin turned the page.
"How boring…" said the fairy, lying on top of a pile of books. "Weren't we going to hunt down that demon? What are we doing here, reading all this useless stuff?"
Colin closed the book and began to swivel in his chair.
"It's not useless, studying the enemy is the basics."
"Studying the enemy? But you don't even know what kind of demon he is... do you know how many categories of demons there are that can make a contract of this level? At least 20 of them. What are you going to do? Study them all to maybe think of a way to defeat them?"
"So, what do you suggest, smarty-pants? That we just go straight to our deaths without any plan?"
"But we do have a plan, and that plan is me!"
Colin stared deep into Brighid's eyes. She was standing on the pile of papers, exuding confidence.
"You can only heal, right?"
Brighid nodded.
"You really don't know anything, do you, Colin?"
He crossed his arms.
"Then why don't you try explaining it to me, smart ass?"
"Right!"
She rested her hand on her chin and smiled mischievously.
"Well! My dear student, I'll teach you, but on one condition!"
Here it comes, it'll probably be something pretty silly. Coming from her, you can expect anything.
"What condition?" he asked.
Crossing her arms, she said:
"From now on, you'll have to call me master!"
As I suspected… something idiotic.
"Do you want to go hungry from now on?" asked Colin.
She said no.
"Then you'd better stop this and teach me soon, I'm running out of patience."
"Hmm!" she grunted, turning her face away abruptly. "You're very boring, I can't even play with you."
Safira closed the book she was reading and turned to Brighid.
"Let's make a deal!" she said. "Colin will let you choose the horse's name and, in return, you'll teach us at least the basics of magic. How's that?"
Brighid's eyes shone brightly. Named things are mighty, and for fairies, the power to name them made them deeply grateful.
It was like receiving the most precious of gifts.
"Will you let me, Miss Safira?"
Safira smiled and nodded.
Brighid skipped over to another pile of books that was right in front of Colin.
"All beings are born capable of magic, but some can manifest it more easily. I'll be honest with you," she said, resting her hands on her hips. "Learning to manipulate magic is not a simple process, it requires a lot of training and dedication. Your body has to be pushed to the limit to adapt the mana to it, and your mana flow is a mess. I don't know what you're thinking, but you need to relax."
Clapping her hands, an image purely made of mana began to form right behind Brighid. After a few seconds, a gigantic book formed with a tree on its cover.
It resembled a gigantic interactive hologram.
"Pay attention," she said, raising her index finger. "There are twelve mana trees, and each creature is born with an affinity to one of them. To find out which affinity you have, you need to know the period in which you were born."
Colin raised one eyebrow.
"Why does knowing the time I was born influence the affinity of the tree I'll have?" he asked.
"It's because of the twelve planes. They are constantly changing, but this change is no more than a cycle, an eternal cycle."
That explains a few things. According to my statuses, my tree is the one in the heaving, I think…
"My tree," said Colin. "What is it?"
The mana book turned into a magical tree, and the branches were like distinct abilities. The root represented the symbol of heavy clouds. It followed the trunk, representing other symbols that Colin didn't know about.
"You're from the Heaving tree," she said. "Her God is called Titanium, the one who rules supreme over the firmament. You must have been born in summer, right in the middle of it, to be precise. The more you train, the more you can use certain skills that will require more precise manipulation of mana, but don't get carried away, it's almost impossible to master an entire tree. That's why there are so few magic masters," she smiled. "Tree masters are called monarchs."
Colin smoothed his chin thoughtfully.
"Are you a master of any?" he asked.
Convinced, Brighid made the number two with her fingers and said, puffing out her chest:
"I'm a master of two trees!"
Safira and Colin immediately widened their eyes.
"Is that really possible?" he asked.
She crossed her arms and nodded.
"In addition to basic skills such as physical strengthening, weak element magic, and analysis magic, it's possible to learn up to three trees in their entirety, even if it's not the one you have the most affinity with. These are known as secondary trees."
That's surreal. She says it's almost impossible to master an entire tree, but she masters two? What the hell is she anyway?
"Brighid!" called Colin. "How old are you?"
She rested her index finger on her cheek and thought again.
"According to the metric humans used to define age, I must be 1374."
It was hard not to be impressed. Colin was amazed that Brighid had such overwhelming power and, at the same time, had been around for a millennium.
"Why didn't you break free from your prison and escape from the witch?"
"Well…" she said. "When you leave Fairy Island, you're punished with a curse. And the curse inside my body means that if I hurt humans with magic, my body will be destroyed. I ended up meeting some humans who ended up imprisoning me..."
Pathetic, just pathetic. All that power, and you can't use it on whomever you want.
"And may I ask why this curse?"
"It's because the lord of Fairy Island is a human and a fallen one, a fallen one like Miss Safira..."
Safira raised her eyebrows.
"A fallen one?"
Brighid nodded.
"Fallen are beings who descend from the ancient Asmurgs, the old dragons, but not everyone who descends from the Asmurgs is fallen. Miss Safira, for example, holds the essence of primordial fire. Luckily for us, only a few monarchs can sense this essence, and otherwise we'd be hunted by the four corners of the continent," the fairy looked away. "When I first laid eyes on her, I felt something strange… then I realized that what, I felt, was the essence of primordial fire." She raised her head to face Colin. "The fallen were hunted because they were accused of being the forerunners of the fall of the veil, but it was the Dark Elves who finally succeeded in bringing the veil down for good."
Colin was certain that Safira was indeed special. With caution, he would explore her potential to the full, to see how far that dormant power could go.
"What's this veil you keep talking about?" asked Colin.
"The veil is what separates the human world from' the'magical worlds'. And creatures like me, Miss Safira, the Elves, demons, and many vile beings, lived in' these magical worlds'. These worlds weren't conjoined, they weren't one. Each creature lived on a different plane. When the veil fell, everything came together on a single plane, which is where we are today, and this happened over two thousand years ago, which for humans is far too long."
Colin rested his hand on his chin and nodded several times. He was understanding the world he had come to. Little by little, he organized his jumbled thoughts.
He suspected that Safira was someone important, but not that important.
He needed to know more.
"Answer me this, how many trees does this fallen one dominate?"
Reluctantly, she looked down and scratched her cheek with her index finger.
"All of them…"
Safira stood up abruptly as her chair fell backwards with a crash. Startled, Colin fell out of his chair and scratched his head.
All the trees? But how? Are the fallen that powerful?
Colin's body began to tremble at the thought of a confrontation with a being of this level.
She said that rarely does anyone dominate a tree, but to dominate all of them is almost like a lie in bad taste.
"Tell me something…" Colin leaned in. "Do all the existing fallen dominate all the trees?"
She said no.
"It depends on the essence that was born with it. For example, there are seven types of essence: fire, water, earth, air, life, death, and infinity. The one on my island holds the essence of infinity, considered the mother essence. Any kind of ability can be obtained from it, including the 12 trees. He awoke more than 1,000 cycles ago, he's practically an elder."
Colin glanced out of the corner of his eye at Safira, who was looking apprehensive, then turned his eyes back to the fairy.
"What on earth did he do on your island, anyway?"
"He got there after an atrocious battle against someone, yet he managed to defeat most of my friends and forced us to serve him. That's why I'm afraid Miss Safira will end up like this."
Safira was pale. She stared at the grooves in the wooden table while biting her lip. She would rather not become a tyrant or a monster who fed on chaos, she just wanted to live like a normal person.
"Safira, I won't let you end up like this," said Colin, standing up. "We won't give them a reason to hate us even more."
"Colin… I…" murmured Safira.
"Trust me, I won't let that happen. If it does, then I'll be forced to fight you, and that would be a problem, since we're friends."
Those words managed to quieten her conflicted heart once and for all. Safira looked away and smiled.
"Thank you…"
Colin adjusted his chair, and Safira did the same. They both continued to stand there, paying attention to Brighid.
The fairy was completely flushed. Fairies were sentimental beings, and situations like these made them weepy.
"That was so beautiful…" Brighid sniffled.
Putting the awkward situation behind him, Colin decided to continue with his questions.
"What trees are there?"
The fairy's mood changed frighteningly quickly.
She jumped up and flew even closer to Colin. She raised her index finger and said:
"The order is as follows: first comes the sea tree, commanded by Plutonius. Next is the Earth Tree, commanded by Gaia. And finally comes the Tree of Flame, led by Aurora. These three close the first cycle, the cycle of winter."
After a pause, she continued.
"Then we have the Tree of the Void, commanded by Jupiter. The Tree of Repair, commanded by Lucian, and the Tree of Conjure, commanded by Athena. They represent spring, and this is also the triad to which I belong. I am a monarch in the Tree of Conjure and Void."
Interesting; it appears that the proximity of both creates a kind of connection that must be the primary trees.
"Is it possible to master only the triad that represents the season in which we were born?" asked Colin.
She nodded.
"Exactly! And now, the triad you belong to, the triad corresponding to summer, is judged by many to be 'the worst triad'."
"Worst? Why?"
"Holders of this triad rarely get to use 1/3 of the potential of their source tree, so users of it are rare. Consider yourself lucky or unlucky… ha ha!"
It was the last thing I wanted to hear, but that's okay, something like that wouldn't shake me. I'm used to difficulties.
She continued.
"We have the Tree of Chaos, commanded by Brumilia. The Tree of Heaven, commanded by Titanium, and finally the Tree of Might, commanded by Murthulius. There's something interesting about the Tree of Chaos."
Colin raised his eyebrows slightly.
"What peculiarity?"
"To master it, you need an animal, and when you and this animal share a soul, it will take on the form of your personality. They say that the Pandorians were all created by chaos masters. They are hybrids of animals and humans. Furthermore, they have somehow managed to reproduce among themselves, forming a new species. The animal will stay with you for eternity if you wish."
That's perfect. An animal that represents your personality? That's more than I could wish for.
"Can animals dominate trees?" asked Colin.
Brighid nodded.
"Like you, he can master three mana trees. They are intelligent beings with superhuman strength. True masters of chaos can control up to three Pandorians, with all of them managing to learn three trees in which their master has an affinity. There are ways of controlling animals apart from directly from the Chaos Tree, but this is dangerous. In your case, it's easier because you were practically born for it."
That's too scary, you could build a small army.
She continued.
"You can start in the Tree of Chaos, but you need an animal for that. Then you make the pact, and it gets stronger as you get stronger. I recommend that you already think of an animal to make the pact with."
"A cat," replied Colin.
"That was quick. May I ask why you chose a cat?"
"Cats are hunters of the night, sneaky and silent. They can climb tall things and fall from great heights without a scratch. They also have excellent reflexes and keen eyesight. It's a perfect animal for what I want to do."
"What exactly do you want to do?" asked the fairy.
After seeing the essence of his soul, the fairy still had doubts about what his real plans were. To her, he was still a mystery.
Colin didn't want to say, because even he wasn't sure what he wanted. With no way out, he gave a convenient answer for the occasion.
"I want to help everyone, don't you want your people to be free again?"
"I do, but…"
"Don't worry. I'm not so stupid as to face falling in my current state. I'll learn my entire primary tree in a year or less, then I'll be a monarch of heaven, right?!"
Wide-eyed, Brighid put her hand to her mouth and smiled.
"You're the strangest Half-Elf I've ever met. I like you, Colin!"
He crossed his arms and looked away. He enjoyed Brighid's company, even though she was a little too intense.
"There's a trio missing, right?" said Colin.
"Yes!" she continued. "And finally, the Autumn Triad, perfect for assassins and spies. There's the Tree of Silence, led by Abiscus. The Tree of Transmutation, led by Lumizis. And the Penumbra, commanded by Zayuguir. Well, I guess you already know all the theoretical basics, right?"
Meeting this type can be tricky. Assassins and spies are silent, so I suppose I made more than the right choice in choosing a cat as my pet.
Colin stood up and rested his hands on the table. First he faced Safira, then Brighid.
"That's enough for today."
"What about training?" asked Safira.
"We'll train tomorrow morning."
Flying up, Brighid said:
"Then take care, I'll sleep next to Poty."
"Poty?" asked Colin. "Who's Poty?"
"It's the name I chose for the horse in the manger, hihi!"
She rested her index finger on the corner of her lips and stared at Colin with a flushed face, playing up her charm.
"Unless you want me to sleep next to you, Colin…"
"You can go with Poty," he replied, short and blunt.
The fairy pouted and left, flapping her wings.